Vehicle running-board brace



1,439,481 E. PREHN. VEHlcLE RuNNlNGl BOARD BRAcE. FILED ssP'r. l0. |921.

23 23 v 19 ZZ ZZ' A Erzmswjm.

Patented Dec. 19,' 1922. i i

"resin" L:enigmes: rsni'imlorfivnwsnn, new ,.iiinsisif.'y

' L vniioiln'niinninnolinn Burien. i 1

Application iiieii sp'teiiibe' 1o', leal. seriai no; 41995736.

not only the ruiming boards of a'veliijcle nitty be advantageously reinforced, but whereby llso the chassis frame is reinforced and rig`- idly held against traiisvcrs'e` deileetio'ns,saiil means tlius performing the-function of a reiiifoiciing find stabilizing chassis cross mein-r ber. v y

Another objectof my invention ispto provide means whereby the flanges of eiich of the usuel channel-shaped chassis frame ,menuy bers are substantiallycliuiipedtogether iiidividuzilly, which clamping'- function giiicreeses by tightening said truss arrangement..

iii Vthe direction toward the chassisfraine.

Another object of my. inve tion is tolprovide in combination with siicli cross meinber,.

ruiming board supportingmeans whereby the ruiming boerdsf are not only v` supportedV but also efliciently prevented from sagging when pressure is exerted uponftlieiii.

Other objects of my invention are to provide witliincsucli :tfdevice a bainie'mber sus#- pended in cantalever fashion adapted to entlie lower face-of the running boards-ofy a vehicle, and suspending inezinscomprising i in parts a stay, braceor compression portion adapted to be'peimaiieiitly set between and positively space the vehicle frame end' the bai' member and engage the latterat desired points below said vehicle frame, and in iii-iinv bracket, or tension portion adapted to engage the ends ofthe bar member,-sconnecting member between said coin-pression and teiision portions adaptedv to eiiibriiceA and tighten togetlierthe channel flanges of the lvehicle freine, 'said bracket portionsA being so arranged asH to permit their#adjustment' end thus the adjustii'iei'it of the center 2and, they ends of the bar member, the latter in sub! stantially upward' direction relative vto Vthe vehicle frame and therunningboefrds, wliile using as Apiviital pointstliefperinanent points of l'attachini-:nt of aforesaidy compressifori4 portions to said bar member. f f- The' foregeii'ig und further objectswill more fully apparent from the following, "dei scriptio'iii` and #the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specilication and in whichz-- Y 'i Fig-i l illustrates aside el'evti'onfv of' 'a preferred forni of my device shown attached to the chassis frame Vof a 'vehicle i l Fig. 2 illustrates a bottoni View thereofif rigs. 4,5, e, 7, e, 9, 10, 11,12, is and il represent various possible designs of my suspending member.

- Referring to the lirst two figures, numeral l() represents the 'running Aboards of a ve-A l-ii'cle, be it wn automobile, a trucln-v ortho lilile.' Numeral 11 denotes the braces or sus-A pensions itttaclied to therunning boards, and' usually disposedbetiveen the `mud gu'aifds5r not shown, of aveliicle. rllie vehicle strueture of the friimeis' represented by channels l2, to whichbraces 1l are yusuallyattached.

f Disposed below the veliiclfefreiiie andk passing' yunder the running boards 1l) isa bar member indicated at 13, comprising two channel members vlll spaced l5 and "secuiely held togetlierby 'spacers and `rivets indicated at l0, 17, and 1S. :Directly below the running boards, I' prefernblypio wooden bloclisli) soarrenged as' to: be ca'- peble of attachment byy means'of' bolts 2O passing through the running boards l0,

vbloclrsl und through the' space l5 between channels 14. l

The heads of the bolts'are disposed prefer--` ably at the uppersurface of`the -rui'i'niiigy boards ll,wliile` they `are secured by means; of washers and nutsat 'the lower flng'es of channels le Associated 2l comprising :i substantially vertically disposed bruce, stay "or spacing portion 90 vwhich4 bears with its bend 23"against` the lower flanee of channel frame 12J with* the veliicle structure orfrsme, indicated at l2, arev suspension meansy 'The other leg` or arm portion 24 of-'iiiy susi pension means is disposed at 'angular' rela` 'tioiito the stay portion Q2, andjpassefseround the upper flange of channel frame l2.

From the foregoingv it will be Y deiittliiizt the suspension means 2l Completely embrace with ltheir upper portions botli flanges of channel frame 12, so that when arm 2t is brace portion ,22 Aand is provided with a thread adapted to be engaged by a nut bearing against the lower anges'of vbar members 14. Also the lower yportion of stay 22 is threaded and adaptedy to receive anut dis-'- posed at the upper flanges of bar members 14 and another nut bearing against the lower faces of bar member 14;. yFrom the drawing, it will be seen that the bentdown portions 25.01"v arms 2i bear against rivets 17the purpose of which will be explainedpiesentlv. lWhen my device is being attached toa vehicle the suspension means 2l are first secured Iat a desired point of the vehicle frame( or structure sothat the vstay rods or brace portions 22 bear against the :vehicle structure lwhile arms 24: are suspended there by.. Thenitlie upper nuts 26 of the stay rods are brought to a height corresponding substantiallyto that or therunning boards.

Now the bar member 13 is placed below the 'running boards in transverse relation to the vehicle so that the lowerv ends 25 of arms 24C and the threaded ends of stays 22 pass through the spaces ybetween channelmembei-S14. Y Then the lowernuts2- oli' the stay rod are attached.v In this manner bar member 13 is temporarily suspended. Now the height of the bar member is adjusted lby manipulating thenuts25 and 2'( so that kblocks19 abut with thelower `faces oi' the running boards. ll/hen thusl adjusted bolts 20 are passed through the running boards,

" blocks, and through the space between channel members 1&,vand are tightened in .place yGreat care must be taken that the lower bent extensions 25 of arms 24 aredisposed without the rivets 17. Now the adjustment or tightening of the bar ends may proceed Icysecuring to the lower bent end 25 of arms 24C, tlierespective nuts 28. As may be surmised from the above manner, oi suspension,

'stay rods 22 bearing against the lower i''ace of the vvehicle trame form in substance a spacer between the vehicle ytrame and the bar member 13. i

The points ot attachment of the bary mein-k bers and braces 22 between the nuts 26 and v.27, form' substantially pivotal points of this cantalever construction. Now when nuts 28 ot arms 24 are tightened, the ends of the Vbar members y13 are drawn in upward direction,

. while the center portion of the bar member 13 is bent in downwarddirection, the point ot" attachment of bar ymember 13' between nuts 26 and 27 serving as a pivot.

Emphasis is laid upon thefact that the ylower bent portion 25 of arms 24 are substantially vertical and at perpendicular relation to channelmember 13; Furthermore these portions 25 are prevented `from mov- `ing toward each other by means of spacers andrivets 17 `which so to speak roll upon the un'threaded portion of bends 25 in upward direction when nuts 28 are tightened, thereby causing the ends ot member 13 to *bend` upwards.

Tn this manner a rigid and adjustable supkport for the ruiming boards is attained,.so

kspacer tor and between these chassis members, `whereby the chassis traine is considerably reinforced. Their flanges are prevented from twisting and the members themselves are prevented from bodily dislocation or movement in relation to each other, or 'swaying when pressure is exerted upon the running board atv one side of the vehicle, which isparticularly evident ininexpensive chassis construction as used for instance 'in Ford cars. y

The eifect of a rigid reinforcing spacer or cross member disposed between the chassis members attained through m f construcr b tion is made possiblel only through first the cantalever arrangement explained above,

vand secondly through the rigid attachment of the combination compression and tension member 21 to the chassis members, which latter are not only embraced by said coinbination member, but also caused to be increasingly tightened therebyivith the in-. creased drawing function of nut 28.

l In other words such rigid reinforcing construction is only possible when the chassis members are held together bya cantalever brace arrangement ywhich engages the chassis members in a positive fashion, in which the connection between the chassis trame and bar member forms a part of the structure, sothat bai' member 13 cannot accidently move toward'the chassis frame, :tor instance, when `the rvehicle is subjected to excessive jars. t j

`While 1 haveshown in Figs. 1 and 5, a

one-piece suspension member, be it underdesired come necessary due to the manifold structure of vehicles which in some cases would not permit, without great difficulty, to attach a one-piece suspension member from the vehicle frame.

rIhus, I have devised a unit composed of two hinged parts and shaped in a similar' manner as that shown in Fig. 5 when in operative position. In Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are shown different modified 'forms where the stay portion 22 is hingedly connected to the brace or arm portion 24. The disposition of the hinges connecting the two portions may vary as shown. In Fig. 11 there is illustrated a similar suspension member consisting of two separate pieces 22 and 24 held together by means of a clamp 29, so that the upper bentends of the stay portion 22' and the brace poriion 24 engage the frame channel 12. In Fig. 12, there is shown an other construction where the upper part of stay member 122 is shaped in a hook form, as indicated at 30, which hook form is adapted to engage the frame channel 12.

Secured by any convenient means, as for instance, a rivet or bolt indicated at 31, the brace member 124 is attached to stay 122.

, Similar in shape to that shown in Fig. 12, is a forging made of one piece and also consisting of a stay member 122 and a braceL member 124', joined -below the iange of channel 12 `and engaging the latters lower flange by means of a hook portion 30'.

In Fig. 14, is also shown a one-piece forged contrivance with a hoop portion on the top, as indicated at 31, and adapted to engage the upper flange of channel'12. 'Ihek lower cnt-out portion 32 engages the lower i'lange of channel 12.

In Figs. 3 and 4, other various modifica tions of my device are shown, where a continuous lower stay member 222 is shown adapted to engage the lower {iange of channel 12. rlhe suspension or brace member 224 is also made of one continuous piece adapted to be supported by the top Harige of frame channel 12. In order to secure the two longitudinal members in their proper relation to each other and in the proper relation to the channels, various clamping means indicated at 29 may be employed, although these clamps are not necessary. r

From the foregoing it will be evident that the principle of a combination cantalever support for running` boards anda reinforcing crossor spacing member for the chassis frame may be solved in various ways. I`

therefore reserve for myself the right to make such changes and improvements as may be necessary to meet various conditions.

Having thus described my invention, I claim i i 1. In a combination chassis reinforcing means and running board support, a pair of bar members, a spacer between said bar members, the latter disposed transversely to the chassis frame of a vehicle and below its running boards, combination brace and suspension means adapted to connect the bar members with the chassis frame in a cantalever truss fashion and composed of a brace vor compression portion adaptedto positively space the body of said bar members from the chassis frame, a chassis frame embracing portion adapted to positively engage a chassis frame channel, and an adjustable suspension portion adapted to draw the ends of said bar members in upward direction, said brace and said suspension portions passing through the space between the bar members, and said suspension portion bearing against said spacer placed between said bar members.

2. A. chassis brace and ruiming board support for vehicles, comprising a pair of spaced bar members adapted to be disposed transversely to the chassis frame of a vehicle and below its running boards, a spacer disposed at the ends kof and separating said bar members, suspension means adapted to be attached to and positively engage and embrace the chassis frame of the vehicle, and having a dependingor compression portion and a suspension arm disposed angularly relative to said compression portion, the latter having a depending end, said end. and said kcompression portionvadapted to pass through the space between the bar members, said compression portion having at its lower ends means for adjusting the distance between the body of said bar members and the chassis frame of the vehicle, and a joining element between said compression portion and said suspension arm for positively embracing the chassis frame, said suspension arm adapted to adjust the ends of said bar members relative to the running boards and simultaneously positively engage and increasingly grip said chassis frame while bearing against said spacer between the barV members,l thereby being prevented by said spacer from )moving inwards.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 15th day of August A. D. 1921.L

ERNE ST' PREI'IN. 

